Midnight Dawn
by Smeepalicious
Summary: “A bit of an early entrance and a small change in cast. The play is played, at any rate, and what difference does it make? Together forever- isn’t that what you wanted?” DISCONTINUED.
1. By Myself

**A/N: Hooray, chapter one of my first full story-style ****fic****! This was conceived, written, and spellchecked between the hours of 1:30 and 4:10 in the morning, so it will be slightly vague and ****morphous****. The story will get clearer, scout's honor. Constructive criticism is loved and appreciated- I'd really like to know how I ****can**** improve my writing. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I am not ****Stephenie**** Meyer. Edward does not, nor will he ever, belong to me. –****Sigh****-**

** ------------------------------------------------------------------**

I was going to smash something. Something that would provide the maximum amount of resistance to being smashed.

Perhaps Emmett.

Damn that over-dramatic puppy dog to the blasphemous bowels of hell! Perhaps I'll help him reach them quicker. He would certainly provide ample resistance to a smashing. I could let him heal, and then break his face again. And again. And again.

"Edward?" Esme's voice sliced through my less-than-pleasant reverie. The door opened and she joined me on the porch, the light breeze swirling her chocolate curls around her motherly face, which sparkled almost imperceptibly in the whitewashed ray of almost-sun that penetrated a thin cloud. "How are you, love?" Her tone was light and conversational but she eyed me speculatively.

"I'm fine, Mom, just came out for some air," I lied. The lie was feeble- the words were spoken convincingly enough, out of necessity, but I made no attempt to mirror my words in my face, which remained twisted with worry and fear. It was as though the house had grown ears. _My fault… why must it always be my fault…_

_You can't take the blame for this, too, Edward. _Esme thought at me sympathetically, reading my face. _She'll be back soon__ She will be fine. Carlisle is with her. _I winced when I registered the thought as being a lamentation as much as a reassurance- since she was changed, my mother had been separated from my father for extended periods of time only once in a blue moon, and she was not taking the estrangement any better than I was. Somebody had to monitor Bella's morphine levels, though. During the brief moments he resurfaced, Carlisle was in a frenzy. Apparently Bella burns it up as fast as he can pump it in. I grimaced again.

_Edward, go to her if it causes you pain. That was what she wanted to prevent!_ I closed my eyes and gripped the porch railing. Bella had specifically requested that I not see her. I wasn't about to break an oath to her, not while she was…I resisted the overwhelming urge to reduce the flimsy wooden rail to an unidentifiable powder. Damn the rotten dog. Damn the rotten Volturi. Damn…

"Ah, Edward, Esme, there you are." A cool monotone echoed from the doorway. I couldn't keep my hands from clenching into fists on the rail and gouging a sizable chunk from the whitewashed wood. Splinters rained down onto the immaculate lawn and Jane giggled momentarily. I clenched my eyes shut as Esme spasmed beside me- an accidental victim of Jane's inadvertent mirth. I cursed myself internally, thankful, at least, that Jane was able to bring herself under control quickly. A soft shudder was the only indication Esme gave of her brief taste of agony.

"Jane, you've found them! Excellent- Edward?" Another maddeningly familiar voice sounded from behind me, friendly sympathy oozing from every velvet syllable. It made my hair stand on end, but I kept my fingers well away from the already-stressed banister, instead turning to meet Alec's burgundy gaze, contrasting strangely with his sister's uncharacteristically amber eyes- it took all my energy not to concentrate on exactly what Alec's eyes were burgundy with. His pale hand was raised in a pacifying gesture, palm towards me. When he spoke it was with the sort of resounding and unmistakable authenticity that can only be achieved by someone who is well versed in lying through their teeth. My eyes narrowed at the careful way he focused on each word he said- not a stray notion passed through his mind. "I would like to apologize sincerely for my… blunder in the forest the other day. I assure you, it was entirely unintentional, and I feel simply terrible for causing you so much trouble- and the day after your wedding! Awful, simply awful… if there's anything I can do…?" He trailed off and extended his hand to me, as if to shake mine, and averted his eyes in a poor mockery of shame. My wavering self-control fractured.

"You attacked and maimed my wife on the day of our wedding!" My voice was harsh and crazed. Esme grasped my shoulder in a gesture wavering indistinguishably between comfort and restraint, but I flinched away and she withdrew. "You could have killed her. You would have killed her! Your eyes are red with her blood!" I stormed. "And you attacked at the only moment when Alice was blind, when we could not possibly have saved her, and left us instead indebted once again to a slavering mutt we despise and who despises us in turn! You nearly killed my wife, nullified a seventy-year-old treaty, and started a war- you would do well to withdraw your hand before it parts company with your wrist!" I managed to take half a step forward before the rest of my tirade was slashed short. A searing pain tore down the length of my spine and I crumpled to the ground, suddenly a hundred years away.

_A slow __thunking__ rhythm was all that was left to me in the world, all that I heard. Each pulse was agony- it felt as though my blood was crystallizing, so cold it burned, dragging through my veins excruciatingly slowly, each drop a dagger that sliced at my failing heart, then cauterized the wounds with its blistering chill… I dimly registered that the air moving reluctantly through my nostrils no longer smelled of the sour hospital, rather it was sickly sweet- the scent of death in the first stages of decay. The morgue. I must be in the morgue. Have I died? Mother promised me I wouldn't die, she promised that Doctor Cullen would save me somehow… but Doctor Cullen must have died, too, then, I could be sure I saw him…_

"Jane! Stop that immediately!" I was dragged back to the surface of reality, gasping for unnecessary oxygen that was strangely comforting all the same. Aro was gliding fluidly across the lawn, accompanied by Felix and Caius, both looking quite disgruntled, their topaz eyes looking out of place in their pale faces. I looked up to see the last vestiges of a sneering, spiteful grin slide from Jane's cherubic face.

"I apologize, Master. I assure you, I was not unprovoked." Her face was once again impassive, but she took Alec's hand possessively. She offered her other hand for Aro to touch, but he waved her off.

"Poor Edward has been through a terrible ordeal in the past few days- a portion of lee-way must be granted." He nodded in my direction before beckoning to Jane and Alec. "You interrupted my hunt- I dare say you two will be thirsty as well. These animals aren't nearly as filling... although what novelty! Imagine, hunting deer, squirrels... Come, let us give Mr. Cullen a bit of much-needed privacy." He swept back across the lawn, his entourage following grimly, dark cloaks billowing. At the forest's edge he leveled a wistful glance back in my direction- recalling the similar cloak he'd seen fastened about my neck in Volterra- and sighed before turning into the trees. _I am glad we didn't grant your request, my dear boy. I'll have you yet_, he thought in my direction as he faded out of sight. I was silent as Esme bent down and enveloped me in a maternal hug.


	2. Everybody's Changing

**A/N: ****I apologize for the wait, I know I'd promised a chapter ages ago, but real life intervenes. I wish I could ****s****pend all my time writing**** Twilight ****fanfiction****, but with the magic I'd have to use I might as wel****l conjure up Edward himself, ****retire to a private island in the Bahamas****, and be done with it**** Foolish fantasies aside,****c****onstructive criticism is loved and appreciated- I'd really like to know how I could improve my writing. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer. Edward does not, nor will he ever, belong to me. –****Sigh****-**

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My entire being was tense, on-edge. I couldn't tell if it was my own apprehension that quieted the flow of thought that seemed always to torrent around me, or if the thoughts of the house's occupants were simply as still as my own. The near-constant shrieks of pain issuing from the second floor of the house had dimmed to dull moans, and after three days of perpetual noise the quiet was deafening. I sat on the couch, motionless, hardly breathing, next to Alice and Jasper, equally still, hand in hand. Esme paced the living room between Rosalie, seated with Emmett on the loveseat across the room, chewing her bottom lip, and us. All thoughts focused on the echoing silence, so all thoughts were silent as well.

The moaning stopped.

Incalculable seconds.

Tick.

Tick.

Six pairs of ocher eyes flew to the ceiling as a new kind of screaming began.

"Edward! _Edward_!" her voice crashed down the stairs, perfect even in agitation. My body responded to her summons before my mind registered it, and I was halfway up the stairs before I realized I had moved. I heard a door wrenched from its hinges, and a blur of brown and marble-white flew at me through what was left of Alice's doorframe, carrying with it the remnants of a familiar scent- wilted and diffused, but still present, a lily after the frost. Our collision echoed through the whole house, and Bella crushed herself to me. My breath caught in my throat when I looked down and saw her face. I couldn't focus on the more refined shape of her eyes, her nose, the way her features had tapered and defined, the way her lush brunette hair cascaded around her delicate neck- my full attention was captivated by the pained expression she had twisted out of her new and foreign perfection, and the odd whimpers that tore from her throat. I brought my hand up to her cool hair, gently stroking it and whispering comforts to her. She muffled a sob in my chest and I put my hand beneath her chin, drawing her face up to meet mine.

"I can't even… cry," she murmured, squeezing her eyes shut as though to coax some moisture from them. "Everything went wrong, all wrong, and it feels so horrible, and I can't even…" She chewed her bottom lip and screwed up her face.

"Bella, look at me," I commanded, bringing my thumbs up to smooth her furrowed brow and stroke her pale, unblushing cheeks. She complied with my request, and I nearly staggered backwards. Even with the many changes I had already seen, her crimson irises caught me off guard. I composed myself as quickly as I could, but the damage was done. Bella recoiled from me in horror and my hands fell.

"It's too different, isn't it?" Her apprehension was vivid in her new face. "I feel so different…" She brought her hands up in front of her face and twisted her wrists back and forth, examining the pale, cool skin that stretched smoothly over the back of a delicate hand, tapering into dainty fingertips. I took her face in my hands, lifting her chin up to bring her eyes to mine. I looked into her face unflinchingly, willing her to believe my words.

"Nothing will change," I insisted.

"But…" she breathed, her eyes widening slightly. I recognized the look- 'dazzled,' she would call it. I arched my fingertips into her jaw, pulling her across the remaining distance between us, and kissed her gently, just as softly and delicately as I would have before, when she was soft and delicate. Her hands snaked hesitantly around my neck and my mouth arched into a small smile under her lips.

"No matter what, you are still my Bella, my heart, my beloved soul," I whispered against her lips, pulling back a centimeter. "A bit of an early entrance and a small change in cast. The play is played, at any rate, and what difference does it make? Together forever- isn't that what you wanted?" She fit her head into the groove of my neck and sighed. I could feel her alabaster cheeks pull up into a smile, and I wrapped my arms protectively about her.

"What happened?" she asked. "All I remember is running after Jake…" My smile hardened. Idiotic dog. Jacob Black had shocked us all by showing his face at the wedding. He had looked quite amusingly ill at ease, tugging at his necktie and grimacing every time he inhaled through his nose. It would have been comical if, halfway through the reception, he hadn't started to convulse rather violently. Mike Newton was seated next to him in the back of the small chapel and the two struck an accord over their mutual desire to rip me to shreds and burn the pieces. When Black began having what looked like a seizure Newton just about had a fit of his own, flapping his arms like an idiot and screaming for help. Black high-tailed it out of the room and Bella extricated herself from Phil and Renee to follow.

"When Jacob so unceremoniously fled from the reception, he did so directly into a forest teeming with ravenous and somewhat cranky Italian vampires unaccustomed to subsisting on game blood." All traces of mirth had gone from my face and I felt murderously furious. "A forest into which he also led my unbelievably appetizing human wife." Bella shifted uncomfortably and I softened my grip and my tone, both slowly becoming tighter. "Alec was hunting nearby, and… well, he's not exactly accustomed to abstinence, none of them are. When we hunt it's even harder to deny the craving." Bella whimpered softly again and I stroked her neck through her thick brunette hair. "He hunts through stealth. According to the dog, he came out of the blue and pounced on you." I had seen the horrific scene in Jacob's mind and shuddered involuntarily. Alec, in his impeccable pale suit and silk cravat, flying from the darkness in a cloud of crimson droplets, Bella's gorgeous gown spattered ruby red… "Jacob managed to throw Alec off, he grabbed you and ran back… back to the reception." I growled at the dog's blatant stupidity, and Bella gasped.

"Charlie, Renee! Do they…_know_?"

"We managed to pass it off as an attack from a rabid animal. We got you out before the screaming started. But…" I took a superfluously deep breath and exhaled sharply. "It was a bad bite, Bella. By medical standards… by human standards… you should be-"

"NO!" Bella shouted and pushed me off of her, her brown hair swirling about her face as she spun like a caged animal, hands over her eyes. "Edward, they don't think I'm…" she choked.

"Carlisle filed the report that evening. We had no choice, love, how would we have explained the changes?" I walked over to her, as she backed up against the wall and slid to a sitting position. Her hands fell from her face and she stared up at me with a blank expression.

"So that's why you're wearing black. I've never seen you wear black... before…" She trailed off with a curious hiccup, as though she couldn't decide whether to giggle or sob. "So all your effort was for nothing?" She seemed drunk- she blinked abnormally and swayed back and forth, bubbling up that same strange hiccup now and again. It frightened me. Her voice was singsong and almost childish when she spoke again. "Isabella Marie Swan Cullen is dead!" Hiccup. I knelt beside her and she curled into my chest, sobbing dryly and wishing for tears that would never come again.


End file.
